WHAT'S TO KNOW ABOUT LABORATORY EXPERIMENTATION IN ECONOMICS?

Abstract Experimental economics has grown as a discipline from near non‐existence 50 years ago to a full‐fledged field within economics in the present. Much of experimental economics research involves experimental methods as a tool, applied to problems in other fields of economics. However, some of this research is inward looking, focusing on questions of the methodology of experimental economics. In this note, I briefly discuss two methodological issues in experimental economics that might benefit from meta‐analysis: the pool from which experimental participants are drawn (university undergraduate students versus other populations) and the scale of monetary incentives faced by participants (large, small or hypothetical).     

经济管理类专业实验教学存在的问题及对策探析——以山东工商学院为例

经济管理类专业实验教学能够提高学生的专业素质、推动教学改革的深入发展、促进经管类专业的科学化发展。目前,经管类专业实验教学中存在着若干需要改进的问题,如,实验教学管理机制不健全,实验教学理念落后,教师驾驭实验能力不足,实验教学效果没有充分显现等。以山东工商学院为例,对经管类专业实验教学中存在的问题以及相关的解决对策进行了探析。     

VARIETY OF METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH IN ECONOMICS

Abstract.  It has been argued by some that the distinction between orthodox economics and heterodox economics does not fit the growing variety in economic theory, unified by a common methodological approach. On the other hand, it remains a central characteristic of heterodox economics that it does not share this methodological approach, but rather represents a range of alternative methodological approaches. The paper explores the evidence, and arguments, for variety in economics at different levels, and a range of issues which arise. This requires in turn a discussion of the meaning of variety in economics at the different levels of reality, methodology, method and theory. It is concluded that there is scope for more, rather than less, variety in economic methodologies, as well as within methodologies. Further, if variety is not to take the form of 'anything goes', then critical discussion by economists of different approaches to economics, and of variety itself, is required.     

REPETITION AND FINANCIAL INCENTIVES IN ECONOMICS EXPERIMENTS

Abstract While experimental methods have been an effective tool for economic research, there have been controversies on the methodological aspects. The reason why we need to care about it is clear: if the method in an experiment is not valid, the results from that experiment cannot be valid too. Among other things, the methodological issues of financial incentives and repetition, which are norms in experimental economics, have been at the centre of many debates. While there are previous reviews that investigate financial incentives and repetition separately, our view is that the effects of these two factors are interdependent rather than independent. Thus, our review here is more specific and more conditional, that is, we are interested in the answer to the question, ‘Do we need to use financial incentives conditional on the use of repetition?’ After we discuss the relationship between financial incentives and repetition, we argue, from a review of 44 experimental studies, that using financial incentives would be more necessary to improve the validity of experimental results if an experimenter needs to use repetition.     

INCENTIVES AND SOCIAL NORMS: A MOTIVATION‐BASED ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF SOCIAL NORMS

Abstract It is now commonplace to regard social norms as a subject of growing interest in the economic literature (e.g. game theoretical approaches based on ‘other‐regarding’ individual preferences, the analysis of the impact of rewards or punishment on individuals’ behaviour through experimental economics as well as field experiments, the revival of the institutionalist tradition spurred on by the influential work of Douglas North and followed by many others and the growing influence of neuroeconomics). In this paper, we focus on the relationship between incentives and social norms and survey the literature that could constitute the foundations of a motivation‐based economic analysis of social norms. Our main findings are that (1) the interaction between incentives and social norms is far from obvious since taking social norms into account involves the introduction of supplementary motives, in addition to self‐interest, into the economic analytical framework; (2) the analysis of the interaction between incentives and social norms resists an approach exclusively in terms of crowding‐in and ‐out effects because it is sensitive to whether it concerns behaviours driven by honour or by social stigma; (3) as a result, it is difficult to precisely evaluate the policy implication of the interactions between incentives and social norms.     

From equilibrium to autopoiesis: A Luhmannian reading of Veblenian evolutionary economics

The paper reconstructs the Veblenian critique of the pecuniary economy from the perspective of Niklas Luhmann's theory of autopoietic social systems. Luhmann argued that social systems relieve people from the overwhelming civilizational complexity, but develop autopoietic properties hindering rational solutions to human problems. This argument allows seeing the pecuniary economy as an important complexity-reducing device, which, however, develops excessive autonomy from the embedding societal and ecological environment. For this reason, like other autopoietic systems, the economy has a high chance of becoming societally and ecologically unsustainable. While Veblen criticized the obsession of classical economics with equilibrium and the natural order, Luhmann urged to replace the notion of equilibrium with that of autopoiesis, which focuses attention on the sustainability problem. Accentuating this problem is shown to be the main evolutionary economics implication of Luhmann's work.     

Schmoller's Method as a Critique and Alternative to Marginalist Economics: a Comment to Louzek

This article comments upon Louzek ( 2011 ) in this journal, claiming that the analysis of Schmoller's method, as evidenced by his practice, allows us to highlight a few themes that are relevant not only in reconstructing his critique of Menger's methodological proposal but also for an extension of such critique to the current mainstream economics.     

Economy as a Social System: Niklas Luhmann's Contribution and its Significance for Economics

Niklas Luhmann's (1927–1998) ambitious research project was aimed not only at describing society as a global social system, but it also analyzed various subsystems (including an economic one). The article assesses Luhmann's vision of the economy, summarized mainly in his Wirtschaft der Gesellschaft, wherein he addresses basic economic notions: the economic system, money, prices, rationality, and the market. I then interpret his ideas in the context of modern discussions in economics (intersubjective structures, complex systems, and evolutionary modeling). I also propose some heuristics implied by Luhmann's economic ontology, which are potentially interesting for methodological and theoretical strategies of modern economics.     

SPATIAL LIMITED DEPENDENT VARIABLE MODELS: A REVIEW FOCUSED ON SPECIFICATION,ESTIMATION, AND HEALTH ECONOMICS APPLICATIONS

Modeling individual choices is one of the main aim in microeconometrics. Discrete choice models have been widely used to describe economic agents' utility functions and most of them play a paramount role in applied health economics. On the other hand, spatial econometrics collects a series of econometric tools, which are particularly useful when we deal with spatially distributed data sets. Accounting for spatial dependence can avoid inconsistency problems of the commonly used statistical estimators. However, the complex structure of spatial dependence in most of the nonlinear models still precludes a large diffusion of these spatial techniques. The purpose of this paper is then twofold. The former is to review the main methodological problems and their different solutions in spatial nonlinear modeling. The latter is to review their applications to health issues, especially those appeared in the last few years, by highlighting the main reasons why spatial discrete neighboring effects should be considered and suggesting possible future lines of development in this emerging field. Particular attention has been paid to cross‐sectional spatial discrete choice modeling. However, discussions on the main methodological advancements in other spatial limited dependent variable models and spatial panel data models are also included.     

关于现代产业经济学前沿问题研究

随着国民经济的发展,现代化经济产业布局基本完成,同时在经济发展过程中涌现出一些现代产业经济学相关问题,探究这些经济学前沿问题对助推现代化经济突破发展瓶颈、实现可持续健康发展有重要意义。基于这一背景,论文首先剖析现代产业经济学前沿问题研究的意义,之后列举当前国内主要存在的一些前沿问题,并提出对应解决策略,以期能够为助推国民经济稳步发展提供一定的理论和实践参考。     

Interdisciplinary social science: a methodological analysis

Since the 1930's, interdisciplinarity has been advocated in the social sciences for the purpose of achieving more comprehensive explanations of observable social phenomena. However, the realization of this promising perspective has been rather poor. This article argues that two main causes of the failure to create interdisciplinary social science can be distinguished, i.e., methodological and theoretical problems. Methodological problems stem either from taking a reductionist approach towards interdisciplinarity, or by mistaking measurement issues for theoretical topics. Theoretical problems result from the poor state and rate of theory formation within psychology. The implications of these problems are that the validity and reliability of explanations of macro social phenomena, which are provided by disciplines such as sociology and macro economics, are seriously at stake.     

The political dimension of intercultural research - the Australian experience

Australia's linguistic, ethnic and racial diversity presents many interesting and important methodological challenges to social science research. A much neglected or even officially unacknowledged dimension of intercultural research endeavours are the political and ideological power structures which not only focus and direct research projects, but also influence, if not determine, methodological approaches. This paper examines some aspects of the various power relations and power structures that have, and continue to have, a significant impact on methodological issues and hence on the validity and reliability of research findings. Since much of the debate about immigration (past, present and future) about settlement practices, service and welfare provisions etc. in Australia centers and relies on cross-cultural studies, methodological issues, and the enhancement of a projects validity and reliability should be of paramount importance. Available evidence suggests that this is not necessarily or always the case.     

Intrapreneurship in the Spanish context: a regional analysis

The objective of this article is to examine the influence of internal and external (environmental) factors on intrapreneurship in the Spanish context, considering differences among regions. Methodologically, the study applies logistic regression and uses data from the Spanish Global Entrepreneurship Monitor for the year 2011. The main findings of the research show through a double conceptual framework (resource-based theory and institutional economics) the direct effect of both internal factors – opportunity recognition and social capital – and environmental factors – fear of failure and education – on intrapreneurship. In addition, the role of fear of failure is reinforced as it has the indirect (moderating) effect; this effect is particularly relevant in lower income regions. The study contributes both theoretically (developing literature and provoking discussion in the field of intrapreneurship) and empirically (providing useful insights for the design of governmental policies for fostering entrepreneurial activities within firms).     

Parsonian Economic Sociology

A bstract .   This article focuses on Parsonian economic sociology and its actual or potential bridges and contributions to contemporary economics. These bridges are methodological or epistemological and theoretical or substantive ones. A relevant instance of the methodological bridges is socioeconomic holism, epitomized in the systems approach to economy and society. An important case of the theoretical bridges is sociological institutionalism. The holistic systems approach is a pertinent methodological bridge in that it treats the economy as an integral element of society as a larger system, and consequently treats economics as part of the complex of social sciences. Sociological institutionalism is an important theoretical bridge to (especially institutional) economics by virtue of its emphasis on social institutions and their economic significance. Some other methodological and theoretical bridges of Parsonian economic sociology to contemporary economics are also identified and discussed.     

我国上市公司会计信息失真的原因及对策探讨——基于经济学角度分析

目前我国上市公司会计信息披露中存在较多问题,上市公司散布虚假信息、欺诈投资者的现象屡屡发生。本文试从经济学角度对会计信息的披露进行研究,通过构建博弈模型,分析会计信息失真的原因,并提出解决问题的方法。     

Bell, Merton and Mills as Veblen Critics: A Comment

A bstract . Professors Tilman and Simich offer some thought provoking and reasoned criticisms of the analysis and applications of Veblen's social theory by Bell, Merton and Mills. However, while Tilman and Simich identify some key concepts and ideas central to Veblen's social theory development, they fail to articulate the inner logic of Veblen's paradigm which integrates and amplifies the individual concepts and ideas: the genetic, evolutionary development of the life process. Veblen's evolutionary paradigm not only challenges but threatens the very legitimacy of much of orthodox analysis in such disciplines as sociology, economics and political science.     

Incenting managers toward the triple bottom line: An agency and social norm perspective

Research to date has identified CEO pay structure as an important factor in the environmental and social performance of the organization but has not considered how pay may influence these sustainability efforts at the middle‐management level. We address this void with an experimental manipulation of direct and indirect pay incentives for an environmental sustainability project and production cost savings project. Counter to our predictions, investment in sustainability versus cost savings is significantly lower when incentives for both projects are equivalent, and investment is only comparable when incentives for the sustainability project are superior. Further investigation using qualitative data attributes this to differences in the salient social norms that individuals hold and an apparent undervaluing of the indirect incentive derived through sustainability's contribution to cost savings. The results shed light on primary ways in which human resource management practices may be used to embed support for sustainability initiatives throughout the organization.     

APPLICATIONS OF BEHAVIOURAL ECONOMICS TO TAX EVASION

The paper reviews recent models that have applied the techniques of behavioural economics to the analysis of the tax compliance choice of an individual taxpayer. The construction of these models is motivated by the failure of the Yitzhaki version of the Allingham–Sandmo model to predict correctly the proportion of taxpayers who will evade and the effect of an increase in the tax rate upon the chosen level of evasion. Recent approaches have applied non‐expected utility theory to the compliance decision and have addressed social interaction. The models we describe are able to match the observed extent of evasion and correctly predict the tax effect but do not have the parsimony or precision of the Yitzhaki model.     

THE EXPERIMENTAL ECONOMICS OF RELIGION

This paper surveys the experimental economics approach to the study of religion. The field has a place in the context of the scientific study of religion generally and the social psychology of religion in particular, but employs distinct economic methods which promise new and different insights. In particular, certain features of the experimental approach as used by economists such as incentive compatibility are particularly appropriate for studying the effect of religion on individual behaviour. The paper discusses results obtained so far in terms of two roles of religion in shaping individual behaviour, that is, as a social group identifier and as a set of values.     

有限理性论

有限理性的概念是由西蒙教授引入经济学的,是指经济主体通过其实际行为表现出来的理性。现有的一些有限理性理论在一定范围内获得了实验研究结果的支持。通过对有限理性理论最新发展成果的介绍,重点阐述了注意力对概率判断的影响和经济主体做选择的主要方式等几个核心问题。